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Callistemon


Red bottlebrush flower


Plant Characteristics
Cultivation
Scientific Names

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Read about Callistemon in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Callistemon hybridus, DC. Described only from lvs. which are rigid, linear, almost pungent, and with marginal nerve. —Not recognized by recent authors. The plant offered in Calif. under this name is probably a garden hybrid from Eu.


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Read about Callistemon in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 
Bottlebrush seed capsules

Callistemon (Greek, kallos, beauty; stemon, a stamen; in most of the species the stamens are of a beautiful scarlet or crimson color). Myrtaceae. Bottle- Brush. Ornamental shrubs, thriving without irrigation in California, where they are hardy and much used; also planted to some extent elsewhere in warm climates and occasionally seen under glass.

Leaves alternate, entire, lanceolate or linear, mostly with oil- or resin-dots and fragrant when crushed: fls. in dense cylindric spikes, at first terminal but the axis growing out as a leafy shoot; calyx-teeth 5; petals 5, deciduous; stamens indefinite in number, not united; anthers versatile, the cells parallel and bursting longitudinally; ovary inferior, maturing into a caps. which persists for several years.—About 25 species, natives of Austral., where they inhabit arid districts. Distinguished from Melaleuca only by the stamens, which in that genus are united into bundles. Hall, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 4:22.

The showy flower-clusters, resembling bottle- brushes in shape, and so giving the common name to the genus, are highly colored and render these shrubs very ornamental. The quantity of bloom may be much increased by judicious autumn pruning. The various species are recommended for parks, depot-grounds, school - yards, and also for smaller yards if kept well pruned. Hardy only in warm-temperate districts but enduring temperatures less than 20° F.

Propagation from seeds is satisfactory: these are gathered during the summer months by allowing the capsules to open in boxes or on sheets of paper kept in a warm place; sow in early spring in finely sifted mixture of sand, leaf-mold, and loam, and cover very lightly; the ordinary cool greenhouse is warm enough. Some nurserymen state that plants from cuttings of ripened wood or of wood which is getting firm at the base will blossom earlier than seedlings; others find no advantage in this method. Although adapted to nearly every variety of soil, these plants make but slow growth in heavy clay.CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Cultivation

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Species

 
Callistemon citrinus
 
Callistemon pallidus
 
Callistemon viminalis
 
Callistemon viminalis

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